June hearing for Muhyiddin's bid to transfer criminal case to High Court
Muhyiddin Yassin is charged with abusing his power as prime minister to obtain RM232 million for Bersatu in 2021 and three counts of receiving a total of RM200 million said to be the proceeds of illegal activities.
KUALA LUMPUR : The High Court here has set June 11 to hear former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's application to transfer the trial of his abuse of power and money laundering charges.
His lawyer, Tang Jia Wearn, told sessions court judge Azura Alwi during a mention today that the application would be heard by Justice Jamil Hussin.
The Bersatu president filed the application on April 4, arguing that his case involves legal questions of unusual complexity, particularly as regards certain provisions of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
He contends that the questions warrant the holding of the trial before an experienced judge.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Noralis Mat informed the court that the prosecution had submitted a list of witnesses in the money laundering case to the defence team this morning.
Azura set July 11 for case management to enable both parties to update the court on the development of the application.
Muhyiddin's trial had been set by the sessions court to be heard on 11 days between September this year and January 2026.
The prosecution informed the court that it intended to call up to 30 witnesses to testify during the trial. They include investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz and tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.
Muhyiddin, 77, was charged in the Kuala Lumpur sessions court with abusing his power as prime minister in connection with the Jana Wibawa programme by seeking to obtain RM232 million for his party, Bersatu, in 2021.
The Pagoh MP was also charged with two counts of receiving money from illegal activities, amounting to RM195 million from Bukhary Equity, which was deposited into Bersatu's CIMB Bank account.
He was also charged in the Shah Alam sessions court in March 2023 with receiving money from illegal activities amounting to RM5 million. The case was transferred to the sessions court here for a joint trial.
This is Muhyiddin's second attempt to have the charges transferred to the High Court.
In July 2023, he dropped an earlier bid to pursue another application to have the charges struck out altogether.
The High Court subsequently struck out the charges and acquitted Muhyiddin. However, the Court of Appeal reinstated the charges in February last year.
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